Newspaper & Mailroom

Media General Features Things To Do and Local Promotions With Search Engine Zvents

Friday 07. November 2008 - Newspapers and Broadcast TV Stations Stimulate Regional Economy With Targeted Local Search Advertising

Zvents, the local search engine and paid listings ad network, announced today that Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG), the leading provider of high-quality news, information and entertainment in the Southeast, has chosen Zvents to power its Things to Do local search platform for Media General’s daily newspaper and television station Internet and mobile Web sites. This includes metropolitan newspapers, The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Winston-Salem Journal, 16 broadcast television stations throughout the region and more than 20 community daily newspapers. The Tampa Tribune and WFLA News Channel 8 are part of a converged market in Tampa launching Zvents on the Web portal, TBO.com.
With the announcement, the Zvents Media Platform becomes broadly accessible for unique online advertising opportunities targeted locally to reach dwellers and visitors in cities and towns in the Southeastern United States with timely information and ads specific to what’s happening locally. A paid listings and self-service model enables local merchants to quickly and easily syndicate local events, sales and weekly specials, and business listings. Zvents equips local merchants and businesses with access to local targeting, which can multiply results made in advertising and sales investments while remaining consistent with their media buying patterns.
“With Zvents’ local search technology, Media General Internet and mobile Web users can discover, contribute, and share thousands of local events and promotions in their communities,” said Kirk Read, vice president of Media General and president of the Interactive Media Division. “We are especially excited that Zvents introduces new opportunities for our local businesses to advertise in highly targeted ways previously unavailable.”
“In an uncertain economic environment, local businesses are seeking cost-effective ways to reach local consumers,” said Ethan Stock, Zvents CEO and founder. “Through our partnership with Media General, we deliver a rich local search experience to users and an effective marketing channel to local businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi, as well as Ohio and Rhode Island.”
Over 250 media partners in the Zvents network have adopted the Zvents Media Platform, which enables users to conduct local “what, when, where” searches for millions of events, restaurants, businesses, movies, performers, and other local activities in their areas natural language search queries. Media General users can review details of an event or venue, including date and time, ticket prices, promotions, descriptions, venue information, ratings, and mapped locations, as well as contribute their own content through reviews, comments, photos, and related links.
Media General joins pre-eminent media companies across the country that have adopted Zvents for print and online events listings and to engage in the power of local search that Zvents uniquely enables. Rich, detailed content and timely connections distinguish Zvents in both local search and local online advertising. Media General and other media leaders embrace Zvents as they seek to fulfill their goals to communicate timely information for the greatest impact locally.